GeorgiaThe Telfair is the oldest public art museum in the American South and is often cited as the first U.S. art museum founded by a woman. It grew from the 1875 bequest of Mary Telfair, who left her family's 1819 Regency mansion, designed by English architect William Jay, to the Georgia Historical Society to become a museum. Opened to the public in 1886 as the Telfair Academy of Arts and Sciences, the museum today spans three Savannah sites: the Telfair Academy, the Owens-Thomas House and Slave Quarters, and the modern Jepson Center designed by Moshe Safdie. Its collection of more than 4,500 works includes American and European paintings, sculpture, and decorative arts, and it is well known for the 'Bird Girl' statue made famous by the book 'Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil.'
Telfair Museum of ART
Georgia history, up close and curated.
Telfair Museum of ART is a museum in Savannah, Chatham County. It is one of 19 museums documented in Chatham County, among 480 historic sites cataloged across the county on Georgia Roam.
The site sits at 32.0785, -81.0950 near Savannah. The nearest cataloged historic site is Trinity Methodist Church (historical marker), about under a tenth of a mile away. Others within a short drive include Telfair Academy of Arts & Sciences, Telfair Family Mansion, and Telfair Academy.
This record is drawn from the Institute of Museum and Library Services. Use the map below for its exact position and turn-by-turn directions.
The Telfair is the oldest public art museum in the American South and is often cited as the first U.S. art museum founded by a woman. It grew from the 1875 bequest of Mary Telfair, who left her family's 1819 Regency mansion, designed by English architect William Jay, to the Georgia Historical Society to become a museum. Opened to the public in 1886 as the Telfair Academy of Arts and Sciences, the museum today spans three Savannah sites: the Telfair Academy, the Owens-Thomas House and Slave Quarters, and the modern Jepson Center designed by Moshe Safdie. Its collection of more than 4,500 works includes American and European paintings, sculpture, and decorative arts, and it is well known for the 'Bird Girl' statue made famous by the book 'Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil.'
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